The two world wars
Fanatical patriots, forced laborers and resistance
Amid loud whistles and hate calls, the angry mob break into the garden of the Gmunden villa and destroy whatever they can get their hands on. When the house is stormed, an entire window facade is broken and furniture slung out and smashed. The mood is passionately patriotic.
In the autumn of 1914, the people are the subject of criticism and as the Gmundeners, like all Austrians, are very attached to their homeland, this leads to violence. According to a rumour, John Ruston II, the owner of the Traunsee shipping company, is supposed to have claimed: "The Austrians and the Germans are going to get it from the English. The Austrians are idiots."
Ruston must pay dearly for this rumour, with a mob of almost 700 people devastating the shipping company owner's property. As Ruston tries to report the damage to the police the next day, the situation escalates again. At this time, any rumour can immediately trigger anger and panic; the newspapers even have daily warnings about it.
Already at the outbreak of the war, a youth militia, military headquarters, a Red Cross care unit and an emergency auxiliary hospital have been set up in Gmunden. Württemberg Castle is quickly converted into a military hospital and refugee camp and remains so until after the First World War.
When the war comes to an end in November 1918, many soldiers do not return home. By 1916, the supply chain had already significantly deteriorated, but the collapse of the monarchy brings about a frightening increase of theft, burglary and murder. However, the regional economy recovers quickly and reaches its first peak in 1921.
In the Second World War, Gmunden once more becomes a hospital town for wounded soldiers. One year after the start of the war, the first refugees arrive at Traunsee and are temporarily accommodated in Württemberg Castle. In 1945, more than 6000 men are spread across the town and its surroundings.
During the war, "foreign workers", the official term for prisoners of war obliged to perform forced labour, are also brought to the area to make up for the increasing shortage of agricultural labourers; a Russian internment camp is set up in Reindlmühl.
Altmünster also has a story to tell about resistance, which was quite unique in Salzkammergut. In 1944, Karl Gruber begins to gather people around him to form a centre for conservative forces against National Socialism in order to undermine civilian and military positions. Gruber, a journalist, brings the underground newspaper "Free Austria" with him on his visits home and has it distributed by members of his resistance group.
The area around Traunsee is spared from bombing during both world wars, and in gratitude a ceramic figure is hung in the Parish Church of Gmunden. It shows the Mother of God with a long, blue mantle, holding her hands protectively over the lake, mountain, Ort Castle and houses. The piece has survived to this day.
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